Let's talk about the pleasures and puzzles of the smaller mystery--mystery novels and other fiction--and the bigger one--life.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Trrekkin'

I'm leaving tomorrow (Wed.) for a driving trip in southeast Kansas.

If you feel like brainstorming while I'm gone, here's my challenge: I need to change the name of my website. (Not this place, but my official website.) Right now, it's called NancyPickardMysteries.com. I can't call it just Nancy Pickard, because a realtor in Las Vegas has that one. So I'd like something that has my name, plus. . .what? It can't be just mysteries, or just fiction, so what can it be? Help!

I'll see you guys Monday, and I'll check in sooner if I can manage it. I'll miss you!

Quick note--There's not a thing wrong with NPM, except that the book club thing with Virgin attracted a whole lot of new readers who wouldn't ordinarily touch a mystery with a longer pole than a mere 10 feet. I want to keep them, along with my mystery-loving' readers. I am and always will be a mystery writer, but as I stretch my books a bit, I think I can keep attracting other peeps. Fingers crossed. Leading them to a site that says "Mysteries," in its title is like showing a silver cross to a vampire. Silly peeps!

Ooo, farf, you may be onto something. Although I love the idea of something with Small Plains, that's going to be too limiting, too, 'cause that's the only book that will be set there. But your "Dispatch" gave me an idea, something like NancyPickardNews.

Is there anything to play with if we gave my website a place name? Like a cafe, or . . ? NancyPickardCafe doesn't work, I think?, but maybe that'll inspire somebody to something better.

Mutter mutter mutter… going back to look at all the stuff I missed in yesterday's post… END OF MAY??? whiiiiinnnnneeeeeee Jeez Kelly, do you have publishers or torturers??? And Jen, I think I'm the one who's developing the twitch…

Anywayz, I withdraw my suggestion in favor of Kelly's nancypickardreaders.com — what's the sense of writing without readers, after all?

Morning Andi--It is interesting how we get used to things and feel a bit weird when it changes.

We miss you, Nancy.

We need a new thread for the day. Food. I think that's a favorite of this group. Fall is here. What is a fall favorite dish?I'm known for my pies--Pecan and Buttermilk Chess are requested each year. Thanksgiving is at our house.

Thanks for starting us off, andif. Now that I'm back on the Left Coast, I'll never beat you up.

One of our favorite threads, Lisa! Your pies sound delish - lucky family to have Thanksgiving with you. Usually I spend mine with my sis in NH - last year the Farfetcheds hosted me and my nasty cold (big hugs to the Farf clan). But I'm going home for Christmas instead, so will spend TG with friends.

I grew up overseas, but my mother always made sure we had a traditional American thanksgiving dinner. Which, besides the usual stuff, included carrots with raisins and brown sugar, a German stuffing recipe from my dad's grandmother with apples and onions, and something we called dressing balls - yep, balls of store-bought dressing. And of course, homemade pumpkin pie.

1. Cut up some yellow squash and zucchini into bite size pieces, slice (thickly) a couple of your favorite kind of onions.2. Toss veggies with olive oil, fresh ground salt & pepper, and dried thyme.3. Roast in the oven at about 400 for ~25 minutes or so, stir at least once while cooking.

Delicious, easy, great as a side-dish or by itself, and makes the house smell amazing.

Also, I recently baked this apple pie with caramel and if I hadn't messed up the crust such that half the filling bubbled over and wound up stuck to the bottom of my oven, I bet it woulda been pretty tasty.

Hi all. We've had some excitement today in my office. We've been watching the building 2 doors down which had a bomb go off. There's only a low rise between us so we could see the whole evacuation and the fire engines and police department and bomb sniffing dogs and the line of 10 matching SUVS that pulled up and parked one behind the other and out got a bunch of big guys dressed in black.

It sounds like a couple of people were hurt but no one was killed (thank goodness).